


Machiavellian Mistletoe

by edna_blackadder



Category: Sports Night
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-21
Updated: 2009-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-04 21:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edna_blackadder/pseuds/edna_blackadder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natalie hangs mistletoe.  The results are not quite what she intended.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Machiavellian Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sajee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sajee/gifts).



> Thanks to "S" for beta'ing, encouragement and just generally being amazing.

_Friday, December 1, 2000, 11:50 A.M._

Dan blinked. Someone's desk had been moved into the center of the room, and Natalie was standing on top of it, attempting to affix something to the ceiling. "You're hanging mistletoe."

Natalie grinned. "Yes I am."

Jeremy looked up from his desk. "For the record, I tried to talk her out of it."

"You did?" asked Dan, confused. "Isn't your girlfriend hanging mistletoe in the office where you both work something that you would generally be in favor of?"

"It's not the mistletoe I object to, it's the Machiavellian scheme."

"The Machiavellian scheme?"

"Casey and Dana," Jeremy replied, shaking his head.

"They're meant for each other!" Natalie insisted. "Dan, tell Jeremy they're meant for each other."

"She says they're meant for each other," Dan said, as deadpan as possible.

"Dan!"

"Tell her I would rather she not break her neck in the name of a completely hopeless cause."

"He says he would rather you not break your neck in the name of a completely hopeless cause."

Natalie folded her arms, evidently unmoved by Jeremy's concern. "Tell him to get his ass up here and help me, then."

"She says—"

"Absolutely not."

Natalie shook her head. "Well, I was planning on picking up those shirts of yours from the cleaners, but I guess they can wait until Monday…"

Jeremy looked pained, and Dan mentally counted the seconds. In less than a minute, he stood up, defeated. "This I do under extreme protest," he muttered, climbing up onto the desk.

"But you do nonetheless," said Natalie triumphantly.

"But I do nonetheless."

"For I am adorable."

"For you are adorable."

_Monday, December 4, 1:13 P.M._

One business day, one business hour and twenty-three business minutes later, Casey was adamantly not thrilled about the Machiavellian mistletoe, and it had not escaped Dan's notice that Dana did not seem especially pleased either. If Natalie's anxious expression was any indication, she had noticed this too.

"They are meant for each other, aren't they?" she asked nervously. "I mean, this"—she gestured up at the mistletoe—"this is a good idea, right?"

Dan swallowed. "I honestly don't know, Natalie."

"Oh, come on, you're the expert on all things Casey. What's he thinking?"

"When I idly brought it up this morning, he asked me how much he could pay me to talk about absolutely anything else."

Natalie's face fell. "That's not exactly the reassurance I was hoping for."

"Well, you're the expert on all things Dana. How did she react?"

"Not exactly pumped," Natalie admitted. "But that's normal. Every time I've ever told her to pursue Casey, she's always acted like she didn't want my advice, but then secretly considered it because she's secretly in love with him. And the time is right, Dan."

"What makes you think so?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What makes you think the time is right?"

Natalie smiled. "Three things. One: it's been almost a whole year since the Dating Plan of Insanity. Two: Dana and Casey are both single now, and they have been for a while. It's time, Danny."

"What's the third thing?"

"Huh?"

"You said there were three things. What's the third thing?"

"It's Christmas. Christmas is a time for romance."

"I thought it was a time for family."

"It's a time for many things."

"Including the imminent coming-together of Dana and Casey."

"Exactly."

"And yet you're having second thoughts."

"And this is the part where you're supposed to tell me to lock those second thoughts up and throw away the key. Can we get started on that?"

"Uh, Dan?" Dan turned and saw an amused Jeremy standing behind him. "I'm not a jealous man, but you are standing under mistletoe with my girlfriend."

Relieved, Dan put up his hands in mock surrender. "I'll be in my office."

_Thursday, December 7, 9:38 P.M._

Casey and Dana spent most of the week very carefully avoiding the mistletoe. Casey had taken to walking far out of his way, and Dan had had a lot of fun arranging an obstacle course to trip him up. Sure, he wasn't exactly in sympathy with Natalie's aims, but the opportunity was just too good to resist. Casey was now glaring daggers at him and sporting a rather large bruise on his shin.

"Is Dana still out there?" he asked, adjusting his ice pack.

Dan checked. "She's talking to Elliott, and they're not standing anywhere near the mistletoe."

"But she and the mistletoe remain in the same room."

"Yes they do."

"Then you shall have to brave the perils of our workplace in my stead."

"I shall?"

"Considering the amount of pain I am in right now, I would say it's the least you can do."

"You do realize that no one has used the word 'shall' in about a hundred years, right?"

"That is not true, my friend."

"Name one person who says it, other than you."

"The entire population of the United Kingdom."

"And where are we now?"

"New York."

"The greatest city in the world. Can you name one person in New York who says 'shall,' besides you?"

"I'll think about it while you borrow Jeremy's staple remover."

"You braved that romantic minefield for a staple remover?"

"I need to remove staples."

"Then remove them you shall, because Dana just went into the control room."

"Okay, one. You."

"Okay, that was an unfortunate turn of phrase."

Casey groaned, then stood up. "All right, I'm going. I shall go. I shall walk across the office and I shall borrow Jeremy's staple remover."

"And you wonder why people think you're not cool."

"Leaving now."

Dan watched Casey limp out the door and head toward Jeremy's desk. Jeremy handed over the staple remover and Casey turned around, limping back in the direction of their office. He jokingly held up the staple remover as a trophy, waving it at Dan—

—and almost walked right into Dana, who had chosen that moment to exit the control room. She was accompanied by Natalie, and she was paying about as much attention to where she was going as Casey was. They were standing directly under the mistletoe.

Dan didn't need to guess what Natalie said before abruptly turning away, a victorious smile on her face. His heart sank as he watched Casey and Dana stand there, the tension obvious even from a distance. Then Dana was speaking and gesticulating wildly, and Casey looked surprised. He said something in response, and then Dana looked surprised. After a pause, she said something else.

And then Casey continued to limp back toward the office, looking considerably happier.

"Would you like to tell me what that was all about?" asked Dan, once Casey had returned to his desk.

Casey grinned. "Dana is not interested in me."

"And this is good."

"This is very good, because I'm not interested in Dana."

"The way you've been avoiding her like the plague did seem to indicate that."

"I thought she was encouraging Natalie."

Dan sat up straighter. "You thought what?"

"I thought Natalie did this because Dana asked her to. I thought Dana had feelings for me, and I was avoiding her because I didn't want to hurt her. Only it turns out that Dana had nothing to do with this, and in fact she thought I was encouraging Natalie, and she was avoiding me because she didn't know how to tell me that she has feelings for someone else."

Dan laughed. "Let me get this straight. You and Dana each thought the other was somehow in league with Natalie, but in fact Natalie came up with this entirely on her own."

"In a nutshell, yes."

"You realize that I could have told you that a week ago, right?"

"And why didn't you?"

"You never asked. In fact, every time I tried to bring up how your mutual avoidance routine was driving everybody crazy, you bit my head off."

"That is entirely beside the point."

"Not really," Dan protested, but Casey, who seemed to have forgotten all about his grievous leg injury, was already on his feet and poking his head out the door.

"Natalie!" he shouted. "You can start redeeming yourself now. Withhold Dan's pants."

_Saturday, December 9, 12:13 A.M._

Dan stood under the mistletoe, which was a much more welcome decoration now that Casey and Dana were back to normal. After rebuffs from every technician save Kim (who had been the only one he was really addressing), he waited for Dana to come out of the control room. Most of the staff was already at Anthony's, but she was taking her sweet time.

"Hey," he said, when she finally did emerge.

"Hey," she replied, her mind clearly elsewhere.

"I can't help but notice that you've been a bit distracted."

"You can thank Natalie—"

"Before that." He paused, then said, "Casey says you have feelings for someone who is not him."

Dana looked startled, but kept her composure. "Someone who is not he, that should be."

"If you insist. Dana…it's Sam, isn't it."

"What?" she asked, looking very confused, and Dan immediately knew he'd been wrong. "No, but thank you for reminding me of that painful humiliation. No, I am not still harboring feelings for that smug, rude, mustached—"

"—strangely attractive man who helped save our show?"

Dana shook her head. "He's all yours, Daniel," she replied, but even as she did so a flush crept up her neck, as though he'd come close to the truth, if not quite there.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Who is it, Dana?"

"In what world is that any of your business?"

"In the world where we're friends, and friends help each other through these things. You've been distracted, and you haven't told anyone. You didn't tell Casey, and I know you haven't told Natalie—and you know, a lot of pain and suffering could have been avoided if you had, but that's neither here nor there. Wouldn't it make you feel better to get this off your chest?"

Dana softened. She seemed to consider this for a moment, and then said cautiously, "Would I have your word that you would not tell anyone, threats of withheld pants or not?"

"You have my word."

After another pause, Dana nodded. "All right, then."

"Who is it?"

"Calvin," she admitted. "Calvin Trager, billionaire inventor of the hard disk controller, resident of Paris, Seattle, Chicago and Tokyo, and owner and savior of our show and our entire network."

Dan chuckled. "Sounds pretty intimidating when you put it like that."

"I could have kissed him when he said he was keeping the show. I might have done so if I hadn't been about to cry. I was praying to every deity I could think of, begging them to let us stay on the air. I've never wished for anything so badly."

"And he made your wish come true."

"So he did, which is why at first I didn't think anything of it. Tell me the entire studio wasn't in love with him that night."

"So we were. So we were."

Dana smiled. "I used to really hate it when Isaac tried to get me to go to those network meetings with JJ and company. Now I look forward to them. Calvin isn't always there, but he's around more often than you would think, and he supports us, Dan, he truly does. He believes in us and he believes in the show. He's also sweet, and funny, and incredibly down-to-earth for a guy who can buy a television network on a whim."

"And you're in love with him."

"I don't know. I don't know what I feel. That's why I haven't told anyone."

"That's normal."

Dana looked at him quizzically. "You seem to know something about it."

"I'm more of an expert on being secretly in love with Casey, if you want to know the truth."

Dana's expression became very serious for a moment, and she gazed at Dan as if trying to see into his soul. "After all this time?" she asked finally, disbelievingly.

Suddenly lacking the power of speech, Dan nodded. Dana did not seem to know what to say either, so instead she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Let's go to Anthony's," she whispered. "Pretty soon they're going to wonder what happened to us."

_Thursday, December 14, 4:04 P.M._

"I'm going to do something that some people would consider wrong."

Isaac glanced upwards. "Oh, hell no."

Dan laughed. "Relax, Isaac. I'm talking about breaking a promise as part of a Machiavellian scheme."

"Well, that's a relief, as long as it does not in any way involve me."

"And here I thought we had a special bond."

"We do have a special bond."

"Great. Let's talk in your office."

"Sounds good to me, except for the part where we talk in my office."

"Speaking of your office, why aren't you there right now?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Usually you're sitting at your desk waiting for us to come in and bother you—"

"Sometimes I even do a little work."

"—yet today you're out on the floor."

"Jeremy has my tape dispenser again."

"It is the good one."

"Yes it is. So I'm just going to take it and go back to my office where you are not going to follow me."

"Sounds great, except for the part about me not following you."

Isaac groaned, but didn't bother to try to shake Dan off. When they reached Isaac's office, Dan shut the door behind him and sat down.

Isaac shook his head. "Please, Danny, take a seat."

"Thanks, Isaac. So, like I was saying, I'm going to do something that some people would consider wrong."

"And it involves breaking a promise as part of a Machiavellian scheme."

"Yes it does."

"I think many people would consider that wrong."

"Yes they would. How well do you know Calvin Trager?"

"The guy who owns our network?"

"The very same."

"Better than I would have thought I would, if not exactly well. He's a very busy man, but he gives us as much of his time as possible. He really supports the show."

"That's almost exactly what Dana said."

"Oh, is that what this is about?"

Dan paused, confused. "Wait, you know about this?"

"About the fact that Dana's got a thing for him, yes."

"She, uh, said she hadn't told anyone."

"She doesn't think she has, but this is Dana we're talking about. She talks about him every chance she gets. It doesn't take a genius, Danny."

"Oh. Well, good. Then my conscience is clear. Any chance he's got a thing for her as well?"

Isaac shrugged. "It's not out of the realm of possibility, but I really don't know him well enough to say."

"Do you think you could try to get to know him well enough to say?"

"And why would I want to do that?"

Dan attempted a cheery tone, but he was unable to keep a trace of sadness off of his face. "Because someone deserves to have a merry Christmas this year."

His cheer did not fool Isaac. "After all this time?"

Dan nodded. "Do this for Dana, please?"

Isaac smiled grimly. "I'll try."

_Wednesday, December 20, 7:58 P.M._

"Casey, if you look up from that epic masterpiece and through our wall, you might spy something interesting."

Casey looked up. "Elliott appears to have commandeered Isaac's tape dispenser."

Dan groaned. "Other side of the room, Casey."

Casey turned. Then his eyes widened. "That's Dana and Natalie, standing obliviously under the mistletoe."

"That's more like it."

"Shall we alert them to their ill-chosen conversational grounds?"

"Are you ever going to drop this 'shall' thing?"

"Nope. Shall we?"

Dan stood up. "After you, my friend."

Dana and Natalie were gesturing animatedly and talking rapidly. Dan and Casey were too late for the former to be able to make any sense of their conversation, though he was fairly certain it had nothing to do with sports. Then Dana seemed to notice them approaching and put a finger to her lips, and Natalie broke off mid-sentence, suddenly still to the point of stiffness.

"Would you ladies happen to know what it is you're standing under?" Casey asked, apparently not finding their abrupt silence at all odd.

Natalie's eyes rolled automatically skyward, but she recovered quickly. "Oh, uh, yeah. I, uh, lost a bet with Jeremy. Honey! Come here please!"

"I really want to finish this segment," Jeremy called from across the room.

"Later. The moment has arrived, and I guarantee you there will not be another."

"I don't think I know what you're—"

"Come here. Now."

"Okay. Okay. She calls me, I come. Hear that, everyone? She calls me, I come." With that, Jeremy strode across the room, looking every bit as confused as Dan.

Natalie pointed upwards. "Jeremy wasn't exactly supportive of my little plan," she announced, now more or less addressing the whole office. "He told me it would end badly, and he was right. We had a bet, and I lost. So—"

With that, Natalie leaned forward and kissed a very surprised-looking Dana on the lips. Dan's jaw dropped, and it wasn't the only one. The kiss lasted only a few seconds, but it was certainly enough to satisfy any lost-bet requirement. Natalie grinned as she pulled away. "Merry Christmas, Jeremy."

Jeremy blinked, as though he could not quite believe what had just happened. "I must have been a very good boy this year."

_Friday, December 22, 11:59 P.M._

"And that's all for us. Dan and I will be taking a short break, but we'll be back next week to ring in the New Year. Happy holidays from all of us here at _Sports Night_ on QVN."

"Good night, Mom."

The credits had barely begun to roll when Natalie came hurrying into the studio. "Dan, Casey!" she yelled. "Turn around."

They did so. And then Dan felt his face grow hot, because Dana was standing behind them, holding the mistletoe over their heads.

Casey's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head. "That's why you had Natalie take over?"

"In this particular case, I think the ends more than justify the means."

"How can you be sure of that?"

Dana smiled. "A little thing called peer pressure." She gestured toward the control room, where all of the technicians, and especially Kim, wore very expectant expressions.

Casey's protests were reduced to a stutter. It was then that Dan noticed that Casey's face was as red as his own, and that his hands were trembling over the desk.

Not stopping to think, Dan slid his chair forward, grabbed Casey and kissed him.

He had intended to pull away, play it off as a joke, as if he were just going along with Dana and Natalie. But then he felt Casey's lips part under his, and his own mouth opened slightly. And then it hit him that he was kissing Casey McCall, his partner, his best friend and the man he'd been secretly, hopelessly in love with for years, and that Casey was kissing him back.

The need for air came much too soon. As Dan's breathing slowly returned to normal, three things became clear. One: he had just kissed Casey. Two: Casey had kissed him back. Three: the entire control room had seen them do it.

Dimly, he heard someone cheering, and he turned around to see Kim fanning herself and grinning at the male technicians' shocked, bewildered faces. He turned back to Casey, who had neither moved nor said anything. Dan opened his mouth, but then closed it again, speechless for the first time in a long time.

Dana broke the silence. "Merry Christmas," she said softly.

"Right," said Casey. With that, he turned and headed for their office, and after a moment Dan followed him, still very much in shock.

_Saturday, December 23, 12:08 A.M._

"Right?" Dan finally managed to ask, a few seconds after catching up with Casey. "We share a very passionate kiss and all you can say is 'right'?"

Before Dan could begin to regret those words, Casey smiled wanly. "I guess an explanation is in order."

"An explanation?"

"It's very simple."

"You have a very simple explanation for kissing me."

"Two, actually."

"Two simple explanations?"

"Two simple explanations. One: you kissed me first. Two: I'm in love with you."

Dan felt himself flush once more, unable to believe what he had just heard. "You're what?"

"You heard me," said Casey quietly, and Dan noticed that his hands were trembling again. "I'm in love with you, and I have been for a while."

"A while?"

"I honestly don't know how long. Maybe just these last few months, maybe since the divorce, maybe since we came here, maybe since Lone Star. You've got to understand that this—" Casey paused, then made an awkward hand gesture, indicating the space between them. "This isn't easy for me, Danny. I'm not as—I'm terrified right now."

"You're hiding it admirably."

"Even so." Then: "So what's your excuse?"

"My excuse? Dana, obviously."

"I meant—"

Dan leaned in, hooked his fingers around Casey's neck, and cut him off with a light kiss. "I've been in love with you for years, Casey. Dana knows that. That prank was for my benefit."

Casey's mouth had dropped open at some point. "You've what?"

Dan swallowed, finding that he was trembling now as well. "I've been in love with you for years," he repeated.

"And Dana knew this?"

"Well—not the whole time, but yes. She knew before, way back in Dallas. But I pushed myself to get over you and I guess she thought I'd succeeded. About two weeks ago she discovered otherwise."

"And how did she discover otherwise?"

Dan shrugged. "I told her. It seemed safe now that she's no longer in love with you herself."

"So Dana knew you were in love with me, but I did not."

Dan nodded. "I apologize unreservedly."

"I'm afraid that's not going to cut it." Casey opened the door, poked his head out and yelled, "Natalie! I need you to punish this man. For a while."

Dan laughed. "You didn't exactly share with me, either, you know."

Casey kissed him. "Let me make it up to you. Your place or mine?"

"Mine's closer."

"Fair enough. Shall we?"

"Yes we shall."

They almost forgot their coats as they headed for the elevators, but before either could press the down button, the one on the far left opened, revealing Calvin Trager.

"Hi," he said, smiling at both of them. "You guys did a good show tonight. Is Dana still here, or already at Anthony's?"

Dan was already beaming, too happy to not grin from ear-to-ear, but his smile somehow managed to widen just a bit. "She's still here," he replied warmly, "and thanks."

As if led by the power of fate, Dana chose that moment to walk out of the control room, still holding the mistletoe. Upon seeing their visitor, she stopped dead in her tracks. She said something, but Dan missed it, his attention drawn instead to Trager's face, which told him all he needed to know.

He could thank Isaac later. "Merry Christmas," he said, waving to Dana. Then he took Casey's arm, and they stepped into the elevator.


End file.
